For His Protection
by RabbitFangs0108
Summary: The girls seem close, but when it comes to the Professor they compete for his attention. Each observes him and how the world's hurt him. They all have their own way of helping him out. It's for his protection that they keep him safe, after all. Special guest appearance of Him.


_Author's note at the end. Hope everyone survives reading this._

The city of Townsville had always been prone to many monster attacks and villainous takeovers. The citizens faced destruction and fear on a regular basis. The police department had always tried their best to stop and detain Townsville's attackers, but they could only do so much when faced with indestructible armor and powerful attacks.

Yes, the city of Townsville would've been abandoned or under evil rule a long time ago…if not for the efforts of the Powerpuff Girls! Made up from a trio of kindergarten girls, the Powerpuff Girls always patrol the city, using their powers to protect the citizens of Townsville. Under the leadership of Blossom, kindhearted Bubbles and powerful Buttercup soar above the city as they keep an eye for any criminal activity. All three work together in perfect tandem to take on any obstacle that threatens the safety of the defenseless citizens.

Now, everything hasn't been perfect with the girls. Yes, Blossom's mind, Bubbles' heart, and Buttercup's strength complement one another. However they faced times when they fought amongst themselves for whatever occasion has popped up, but they eventually make up in the end. The connection they share has been marveled many times upon spectators.

What most have never known, though, was that the girls had a competition between the three of them. The girls hid it pretty well from outside eyes, but when they were alone they always shot each other hard looks. Now their competition wasn't to prove to one another who might be the strongest or the most liked or the smartest. No, their competition involved who could get the most affection from a certain scientist.

Was that level of competitiveness unhealthy? Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't. However, their affection towards one Professor Utonium was what helped keep them motivated in saving the city. It was for his protection that the city stayed safe, after all.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Bubbles sat down at her bedroom table, crayons and paper scattered across the smooth surface. The weather outside gave her a warm feeling and her sisters weren't in the room with her. The hotline remained silent at the moment, and she hope hope _hoped _that it would stay that way so she wouldn't be interrupted. Monsters tended to destroy Townsville at the most inconvenient times after all!

The day, she decided, was perfect for drawing a picture. She had her supplies. She had silence. The time was perfect. Now all she needed to do…was decide what she wanted to draw.

Blue crayon tapping her cheek, Bubbles squinted at the blank paper. What to draw, what to draw…Maybe she could draw a cute kitty? No, no, she drew one yesterday. Another picture of Townsville could be nice, but she wasn't in a scenery kind of mood. How about a portrait? Yes. The paper resting under her cyan gaze simply _begged _to become a portrait. But who to draw…?

Inspiration struck Bubbles at that moment, and she giggled to herself. Well, of course! She'll draw the Professor. How could she even ask herself that? The question was oh so silly. Silly, silly Bubbles! With the picture coming together in her mind she set her trusted blue crayon down and picked up her black one before she got right down to work.

The blonde girl hummed to herself, sometimes sticking out her tongue as she drew her very lovely drawing. The minutes ticked by and she used multiple crayons, but her picture absorbed all her attention. The rest of the world faded into the background.

It took much of her concentration, but she finally got the Professor the way she wanted. He looked oh so happy standing in that lovely field of flowers. Mr. Sun shined in the background with a smile of his own. What a pretty picture…

…but it didn't feel finished just yet. He might've looked happy, but Bubbles could see the loneliness lurking in the Professor's eyes. He needed company to enjoy that fine day with, and Bubbles always thought of herself as the best in that field.

A few more minutes later and a mini Bubbles floated right next to the Professor, a smile of her own on her face. Bubbles looked at her lovely picture, proud with the way it turned out.

Oh, oh! Another wonderful idea popped up into her mind. She should give the drawing to the Professor as a gift! He always loved getting handmade gifts from Bubbles. He'd give her a smile and a hug before telling her that she gave him such lovely and wonderful things and he was so so proud of all his girls and-

Oh. Wait. Bubbles' smile went down a smidgen as she looked at her creation. The sight of the Professor and herself together gave her a fuzzy, happy feeling, but she excluded her sisters from the picture. If she gave this to him the way that it was, then he'd notice that Buttercup and Blossom were missing and he might get a little sad. She would have to…what was the word Blossom used a lot? Compri…Cimpro…Commpli...Truce.

Well then. It was decided. She would include her sisters, but she'd draw them a distance away from Teensy Bubbles and Tiny Professor. After all, Bubbles thought as she added more to her picture, she always thought of herself as the Professor's favorite.

Once she deemed the beeyooteefull artistic drawing of her complete, she placed her green crayon down and grabbed the paper. Smile widening, she let out a squealed "Professor!" and flew down the stairs, blue streaming out from behind her.

She found the Professor in the kitchen, sitting at the table with the newspaper. He looked up and gave Bubbles a dazzling smile. "Sweetheart," he greeted her, folding up the newspaper and setting it down on the table.

Oh, wow! The Professor was giving her his undivided attention! "Hi Professor! I made you something." She couldn't hand him the gift quick enough.

His dark eyes sparkled as he accepted the drawing. "Why, what a beautiful picture! You get better each and every time."

Bubbles giggled, pleased with his reaction. "Thank you Professor!" Jumping up and down in the air that only Bubbles herself could accomplish, she asked the scientist, "So when are we going to the zoo?"

The Professor scratched his cheek. With dismay Bubbles noticed that he looked a little sad. "Bubbles, we'll have to postpone those plans for now."

Bubbles deflated at the news, floating downwards into the chair next to the Professor. "Aw," Bubbles pouted, crossing her arms. "I wanted to see the adorable animals…" With quick thinking Bubbles got the most wonderful idea. "Professor! If this is because Buttercup and Blossom don't want to go, then you can just take me."

His response was a sigh. "First off Bubbles, I know you looked forward to seeing the animals at the zoo, but it wouldn't be fair to your sisters if we left them here at home while the two of us went out." Bubbles frowned just a teensy tiny bit. He didn't notice. "However, the reason we'll have to reschedule is that a fellow scientist was in a car collision-"

Bubbles gasped, interrupting him. "Oh no! He's dead?!"

"No no no!" the Professor reassured her. "Thankfully the collision wasn't major, but his car will be in the shop for a while and I've agreed to have him carpool with me."

"Why is he swimming with you?" Bubbles asked, getting a picture of the Professor and a scientist in a pool the shape of a car.

The Professor chuckled, ruffling a hand through her blonde hair. "No Bubbles. Carpooling means that I'll be picking him up in my car and driving him to work. This means that I'll be coming home later than usual. Ms. Bellum and the Mayor told me they can watch you, Blossom, and Buttercup during that time until I get home from work."

Eyebrows coming together, Bubbles asked, "But, Professor, aren't you risking getting your car smashed too?"

"That's a risk everyone takes every day, sweetheart, but you don't need to worry about me. I'll be fine."

"But-"

At that moment the Hotline started beeping. Bubbles heard Blossom fly to the phone. She answered with a "What's up Mayor?" and ended the call with the usual "We're on our way!" before she and Buttercup flew down the stairs.

"Monster in the city! Come on!" Blossom told Bubbles. Bubbles didn't want to go, though. She liked sitting next to the Professor.

Moments later she felt a pat on her back. "Now Bubbles, you don't need to worry about me. Go and defend the city."

She hesitated before giving a shaky "Okay Professor." She floated away from him. He wished them luck as the Powerpuff Girls zoomed out the door to save the city once again.

"Alright girls," Blossom announced as they flew towards the heart of Townsville, "here's the plan…"

Shortly after Blossom's statement, Bubbles' mind began to wander. Did people really face dangers from everyday simple things? Sure, monsters came to Townsville and villains tended to try and take over the city almost daily. Wouldn't that make people more careful, more grateful for the brief periods of peace? What could she do to make sure that the Professor didn't get hurt by monster feet and horrible people? She simply had to do something!

Another idea came to her. Bubbles smiled as she thought of ways to keep the Professor safe from anything that could harm. Those thoughts stayed with her and continued to grow after she and her sisters reached the center of the city. She added to her own Blossom-isk plan after they defeated the monster and sent it sailing out of the town. She smiled as she reached home and saw the Professor finish making dinner for the night as he rewarded the three of them with a warm smile of his own.

Determination filled her as she sat down to eat. She would do her best to keep an eye on the Professor so he could keep on smiling. It was for his protection that she keep those evil people and mean monsters from hurting him, after all.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Buttercup frowned, punching her slab of meat with deep frustration. The level of obliviousness that Blossom and Bubbles had when it came to a few areas of life just…just…_AUGH!_

Buttercup punched the meat especially hard, knocking it off of its hook and causing it to crash into the wall before it slid to the ground. Her frown deepened, and she harrumphed and crossed her arms. Stupid meat slab. She needed Mojo Jojo or whatever dumb villain to show up then and there so she could beat the tar out of them. That would make her feel much better.

But then Bubbles would whine about "how bad guys had feelings too" and Blossom would say that Buttercup needed to act more lady-like and-

Buttercup roared, kicking the meat slab into the wall. Bits and pieces of the wall structure fell onto the meat. Buttercup panted, fists clenching at her sides. Lady-like? Feh! That's Miss Perfect's opinion. The Professor liked Buttercup just the way she was.

Buttercup's frown lessened. She never liked being all girly and drooling for the Professor's attention like Bubbles with her dumb crayon drawings and Blossom with her science-y knowledge. The Professor had to have a radar of some sort, Buttercup thought, because he knew just when she needed to have (and she grudgingly thought up the word) affection. He showed up when she was upset with some dumb kids at school or at a villain that managed to get away or at one or both of her stupid sisters and he always managed to get her to calm down and sometimes smile. She always got ecstatic when he allowed her to pick a family activity because he did try to match her activity to the best of his ability. One time she asked him if they could go to a monster truck rally and he had flinched, but the next weekend they all went up to see monster trucks crushing pathetic little cars and she had been thrilled. Sure the monster trucks turned out to be monsters, but her love of the Professor increased after that.

Buttercup knew that she could be difficult to love sometimes, but the Professor told her that her stubbornness helped her have a different view on the world than what her two sisters saw. Maybe that's why she could see the Professor's situation with a clearer eye than Blossom or Bubbles.

When he thought they weren't looking Buttercup's noticed the loneliness and longing on his face as he observed "complete" families play in the park or eat dinner together. Buttercup believed their family to be complete the way it already was; what could they possibly do to make it better? The Professor told her in a gentle voice that he thought it'd be a good idea if she and her sisters had a "lady-like mother figure" in their lives.

Buttercup snorted, grabbing the meat slab and yanking it out of the wall. An impression of the slab remained. Whoops. Well, she could hide that mess easily. Going back to the mother figure topic, Buttercup seemed to have a better ability of seeing through all that face crap older women seemed to enjoy using to hide their faces. Ms. Bellum was the exception. She didn't wear any of that junk. At least, Buttercup _believed _that she didn't resort that low. It was hard to tell whether she did or not with all that red hair covering her face.

Buttercup grabbed the clothes dresser and moved it in front of the damaged wall. As if it wasn't bad enough that the Professor was awkward enough around women his age, but the ladies who did give him the time of day only wanted to use him to get to the Powerpuff Girls. Ms. Keane had broken his heart, too.

Buttercup breathed out of her nose while she adjusted the dresser. The Professor didn't deserve to be treated the way that he was. Sometimes he allowed it as if he wanted to be treated horribly, and that made Buttercup mad all over again. Well, most things made her angry, but this hurt the Professor under the surface of his skin and she knew she couldn't do much to help ease the pain.

There. The dresser covered the hole up perfectly. She should check up on the Professor, though. He had gone out the other night on a date and she just wanted to see how it went. Buttercup flew out of her room and headed towards the stairs, but noises from the study caught her attention. She managed to stop herself before she skidded into a wall and backtracked to the study door. She reached for the doorknob and opened the door, sticking her head inside the room.

Sitting at his desk, the Professor somehow looked more upset than Buttercup ever remembered seeing. The focus he had on the books in front of him was more than usual, too. A piece of crumpled paper lay on the floor beside a trash can. Using her enhanced vision she saw a part of a telephone number.

Buttercup sneered at the discarded paper, knowing she got her answer. Another woman, another failure, huh Professor? What did she really expect, though.

The Professor made a noise under his breath, turning a page in one of the research books. Buttercup's expression softened a tiny bit as she turned her attention back on him. He still looked too tired for her tastes. Maybe she could distract him for a few moments?

Buttercup knocked on the door, still not fully in the study. "Hey, Professor?"

The scientist glanced in her direction before he gave her a warm smile. "Buttercup, dear," he greeted, turning his upper body to face her. "What can I do for you?"

Buttercup shuffled her feet, uncertain about what she should say. The Professor didn't rush her. He just sat there and stared at her with his kind eyes.

Those eyes were the eyes that suited the Professor the most. Buttercup resolved to always let him keep those eyes.

"Um…" she frowned before she crossed her arms, looking down at the ground then towards the crumpled up phone number and then back to the ground. "If you wanna do anything you can give me a call, alright?"

The scraping of a chair across the floor reached her ears before the sound of footsteps filled the room. She kept her eyes on the floor until black shoes entered her vision. Buttercup looked up just in time to see the Professor kneel in front of her. He stared into her green eyes and rested one of his hands on her small shoulder, smiling as he did so. "I'll keep that in mind. Thank you Buttercup." He followed that statement up with a squeeze to her shoulder before he got up and walked back to his desk.

Buttercup exited the study, making sure that the door remained open by a crack. She didn't exactly address the problem she wanted, but for a brief moment she saw him smile and that would be enough for now. When she thought of it, though, the Professor would only deny that he was suffering before he would do a horrible job of persuading her that he was absolutely one hundred percent fine. Bubbles would buy it and Blossom was too much of a girly-girl to push the issue, but Buttercup knew better.

And then a light bulb turned on in her head. It'd be the best way to prevent the Professor's heart from tearing up any more than it already was. Then he'd keep those genuine kind eyes of his on all the time, and he'd see that their family didn't need anyone else.

Her plan stayed in her head when her sisters came back from an after school project. It dug deeper into her brain when her sisters questioned why the dresser moved and when Bubbles talked to the Professor. Her stubbornness made it certain that she would go through with it even as the Professor scolded her for trying to hide the wall that her meat slab went through. It was for his protection that she keep the female population from destroying him, after all.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Blossom opened the lab door far enough to allow her head to slip inside. Almost instantly the smell of lab chemicals reached her nose. Thanks to her super hearing she could hear the sounds of the Professor mumbling under his breath as he wrote down notes for whatever occupied his current attention. He released a frustrated sigh and Blossom concluded that something eluded his progress. Perhaps Blossom could help Professor Utonium make progress?

The redheaded girl opened the door wider upon this decision and slipped herself inside. She closed the door behind her, making sure that the door didn't make any noises. Blossom descended down the stairs at a slow pace instead of going her usual speed. She didn't want the make her presence known just yet.

Reaching the bottom of the stairs, Blossom crept around the corner, magenta eyes scanning the lab before her. _Hmm,_ she thought as the observed the lack of a father figure. _The Professor must be further in the back._ Blossom then continued her flight through the lab.

The leader of the Powerpuff Girls allowed herself a smile as she flew among the assortment of lab equipment and chemicals, naming them as she went by. Bubbles might be the soul of the group, and Buttercup may be the brawn, but Blossom was gifted with brains. School, studying, and problem solving all came easily for her. She understood the concepts of mathematics and science better than her sisters ever would. Her knowledge and understanding in those fields would only grow and expand the older she got. Then she could work and learn alongside the Professor.

Because Blossom chose to have a huge interest in science, she could understand what Professor Utonium did (up to a certain extent). That in turn gave them a subject in common, which in turn gave her the advantage over her sisters. And boy did she love it.

She didn't come down to the lab to help the Professor with his experiments, though. This time she wanted to just observe how the scientist was holding up. Along with higher intelligence Blossom also had higher observational skills, and these past weeks she's noticed a deterioration in the Professors' health. He looked tired most of the time, and he seemed jumpy. Maybe she could get a few answers out of him?

It took a while, but Blossom finally found the Professor. He stood hunched over a microscope, hand adjusting the scope once in a while. He observed whatever was on the slide before he scratched down his observation into a small notebook.

Curious, Blossom floated up to the Professor, looking over his shoulder. Although his handwriting wasn't the neatest to read, she could connect a few of the basics together. It seemed as though he's made several attempts at strengthening up skin cells. She could only hypothesize his reasons why.

She waited for him to finish his update before she spoke aloud. "Hey Professor. What are you working on?"

Professor Utonium jumped before whirling around to face Blossom. His dark eyes, filled with exhaustion and surprise, met her pink ones. Mentally she noted how the surprise faded once he registered her presence but the exhaustion remained. Was he getting enough sleep? "Blossom! I didn't hear you come in."

Blossom relished having his attention on her. "Sorry Professor. I just got back from patrol," she lied. "I noticed the time and rushed down as quickly as possible to see if you've had anything to eat since you're too busy to notice the time when you're down here."

The Professor didn't question her intentions. Instead he chuckled, patting the top of Blossom's head. "I do tend to lose myself in my work, don't I?"

Blossom beamed at the accomplishment she made. That feeling soon disappeared once she took a better look at the Professor. "Professor!" she gasped. He had several bandages on his face, his labcoat looked singed, and Blossom noticed a bit of dried blood pooling around a tear on his arm. "What happened to you?!"

Professor Utonium rubbed the back of his head, embarrassed. "I had a bit of an accident with a different experiment earlier today."

Blossom set straight into action, checking the Professor for any more injuries while asking him question after question. "Are you okay? What happened? How bad are your injuries? Do you need to go to a hospital? Did you-"

"Blossom!" The Professor grabbed his redheaded child and lightly held her in place. "Blossom, honey, I'm fine. It was a very small accident that resulted in my having a few scrapes and bruises. Nothing to worry about. I just learned from this experience that I shouldn't keep going at a project of this momentum on very little sleep. Next time I'll make sure to take a nap before handling it again."

Blossom wasn't convinced. "Well, maybe I should stay here and help you."

He shook his head. "The one I'm working on at the moment is mostly observing and writing notes. Besides, you're too young to start helping me out in the lab. Now come on," he said as he guided her towards the stairs. "Your sisters must be missing you."

"But Professor-!"

"I'm almost finished with this part. Just give me one more hour."

"But _Professor_-!"

Professor Utonium let out a fond sigh. "How about I do this?" Now at the stairs, the scientist turned Blossom around so they faced each other before kneeling on the floor so as to be eye level. He held out a single finger. "One more hour. Then I'll come up and you, me, Bubbles, and Buttercup can spend the rest of the day together." With a bit of hesitance he added, "We can even go out for pizza and a movie, if you girls want to."

Internally Blossom brightened up at the prospect of spending the day with the Professor, but she didn't want to leave him alone. "...Promise you'll only take notes?"

Professor Utonium raised his right hand in the air while he used his left to cross his heart. "Promise."

She still didn't want to leave, but her rational mind knew that he didn't want to back down from completing the project, especially with how close he was to finishing it up. "I guess that that's acceptable."

With an affectionate grin, Professor Utonium gave her head a final pat before he turned and walked back to where the left his latest experiment. Blossom, however, didn't move from where she was at. Floating off the ground, she opted to watch the Professor walk away. Her eyes automatically landed on the blood-encrusted arm tear.

How could the Professor just brush the accident off? Act as though he didn't get hurt? Didn't he realize that it could've been worse, that he could've ended up in the hospital, that…that…

…that he could've ended up dead?

Blossom frowned at that thought. Sometimes she forgot at how mortal the Professor actually was. He didn't have powers to protect himself from danger. He couldn't bounce back from an injury as easily as Blossom and her sisters could. Sure, the Professor spent the time in his lab to improve the lives of other people and to help protect the Powerpuff Girls, but most of the time his experiments backfired and made matters worse.

Now that she thought about it, everything the Professor tested, researched, and watched had the potential to turn dangerous. Sure it wasn't "serious" this time, but with the Professor's luck anything he touched could become deadly. The increase of his jumpiness and lack of sleep lately made mishandling even the slightest chemical lethal.

He didn't have the invincibility like Blossom and her sisters: he could seriously get hurt one day, and yet he continued playing with fire.

The sound of a pencil scribbling on paper reached Blossom's ears, breaking the silence of the lab. Her frown deepened, but she flew up the stairs and opened the door, prepared to tell Bubbles and Buttercup about the plans for the afternoon, thoughts racing and plans forming in her mind as to how to handle the present situation.

When the Professor came up a little over an hour later to take the girls out, Blossom promised herself that she'd try to stick closer to the Professor when he worked on more experiments. It was for his protection that she keep his job from harming him, after all.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Professor Utonium's health continued to deteriorate.

The girls noticed how he'd start to doze off when at the table or when watching television with them. He became reluctant on letting them leave the house, and he seemed to always be cooped up inside anymore. When they left for a family day, they noticed how he'd try to focus on them having fun but he'd keep looking over his shoulder. After the ninth time of asking if they'd seen the item of the day from the lab he all but moved into his study.

He put on a happy face around them, but he had always been a terrible actor. They worried about him.

"What's wrong with the Professor?" Bubbles asked as she sat under the bed covers. The Professor had just left after tucking them into bed and giving them each a goodnight kiss.

"Who knows?" Buttercup responded, sitting up herself. She crossed her arms and glared at Bubbles. "He's been acting weird for a while now."

Bubbles whimpered, hugging her octopus pal harder. "I hope he gets better soon."

Buttercup scowled, looking away from her younger sister. "…Me too."

Silence filled the room for a few minutes. Blossom broke the silence by sighing. "If I'm correct, it seems almost as if the Professor is scared."

"What?" Bubbles squealed. Blossom and Buttercup shushed her, and Bubbles talked in a quieter voice. "But the Professor is never scared!"

"I wouldn't say never," Buttercup commented. She received a punch in the arm from Blossom. "Ow!"

"Nevermind that. We need to think about who or what is making the Professor nervous." Blossom sat up and looked at both her sisters. "Any suggestions?"

Buttercup snorted. "Who knows? It's not as if he knows something we don't."

Blossom furrowed her eyebrows together. "Maybe…maybe he _does _know something."

"Like what?" Bubbles asked, playing with one of the arms of her octopus pal.

"Think about it. We have a lot of enemies who seek our defeat. Maybe they're plotting something but the Professor noticed it before the plan was ready to go into effect."

Buttercup looked alarmed. "Do you think maybe they want to use the Professor as a lure?"

Blossom looked grim. "If he discovered a villain's plans, then maybe. Not only would that be getting him out of the way without telling us what's going on, but they could use the Professor as a lure. Two birds, one stone."

Tears filled Bubbles' eyes. "You mean they're going to hurt the little birds, too?"

"Shut up Bubbles!" Buttercup snarled.

"Buttercup," Blossom warned. The Powerpuff leader patted the now-crying Bubbles on the back while glaring at Buttercup. "I think we can agree on the fact that all of us love the Professor dearly. Something is obviously wrong yet the Professor doesn't want to alarm us. It could be dangerous." She looked at Buttercup, then Bubbles, then Buttercup again. "What can we do to resolve this?"

Bubbles sniffled, rubbing her eyes. "It's too bad we can't keep the Professor in a safe place. Then we wouldn't have to worry about anyone hurting him."

Silence filled the room. Buttercup and Blossom looked at each other, contemplating what Bubbles said. Finally Blossom spoke. "We might be able to do that. Okay girls," she said, gaining the attention of her sisters, "we need to think about a plan…"

O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Professor Utonium jolted awake, gasping for breath after having a nightmare he couldn't remember. A few minutes of recollecting himself, and he felt slightly better.

Utonium looked around, noting that he fell asleep in his study for the third time that week. The wall clock told him that he'd only been asleep for twenty minutes. With how late it was, he really needed to go to bed.

The scientist sighed, running a hand through his black hair. He simply had too many things on his mind that prevented him from peaceful sleeping. For once his experiments and scientific notes were near the bottom of the list of his thoughts.

No. Instead he wanted to know who had eyes on him and his girls.

The feeling of being watched and followed has plagued him to months now. Going out in public now brought up the hairs on the back of his neck. When shopping once, he saw something out of the corner of his eye. Whipping around he swore that he saw a head vanish behind a stack of cans, but it disappeared too fast for him to be certain.

That was the moment that he knew something was up. He kept on guard after that.

Not too long after that discovery another event happened at a weekend science convention. The Professor had been feeling jumpy for such a long time, and science conventions tended to be the only places he didn't feel eyes on him. Besides, he had heard that many interesting topics would be discussed. Promising the girls that he'd be back by Sunday afternoon after dropping them off at Ms. Keane's house, he drove to Citiesville. Many scientists fascinated him, but a dark haired female physicist with blue eyes kept most of his attention. The two of them talked about personal projects and theories for hours before he asked if they could speak again the following day. She agreed and he said his goodbyes, elated about seeing her again. When he spotted her the next day excitement filled him up and he barely managed to keep himself from running to her. His good mood remained up until he got close enough to see a bruised cheek and a split lip. She looked in his direction, spotted him assessing her in his place, and terror filled her eyes before she spun around and made herself blend into the crowd of scientists.

He felt numb as he stood there at the science convention. He came to the conclusion that whoever had been following him around didn't want others hanging around him.

What chilled him to the bone, though, was when equipment started vanishing from his lab. At first it started off as small things, such as a Bunsen burner and test tubes. He thought he'd been misplacing his things before his complicated machinery started to disappear. Asking his girls if they'd been down in the lab recently earned him weird looks and an explanation of entering his lab only to make sure the Professor didn't get himself too immersed as to skip dinner. He dropped the subject after that, but it did nothing to ease his worry.

The Professor leaned forward, resting his tired head against a hand. Because the Powerpuff Girls fought crime, they had many enemies who wanted to see their demise. The question, though, was who had the resources and grudge to keep an eye on the Utonium family? Mojo Jojo was at the top of the list, and the Professor couldn't excluse Him or that little girl that went to the same school as the girls.

The Professor sighed again, undoing the tie from around his neck yet leaving it lightly coiled around his neck. All of the mentioned villains were dangerous in their own way, and that worried the middle-aged man for his daughters. Looking at the notes he accumulated since he first felt those eyes, he reread the formula that could help temporarily strengthen the girls' skin and make them impervious to all weapons customed from any Earth material. The Professor had to take into consideration that he would be used to draw in the girls. It seemed likely, and he didn't want his girls to be harmed by any surprise weapons because of him.

He picked up the papers with his most recent notes. It missed something vital, and the Professor didn't want to go to bed because he just knew that the solution was on the tip of his tongue and then he'd be a step closer to keeping his girls safe from the evil forces of ohgodwhatwaspullinghistie?

The scientist couldn't breathe as he felt the last of his tie slip off of his body. Abduction was likely, he knew, but he didn't think it'd happen so late in the night. Slowly he reached for a pen to use as a makeshift weapon if need be. He jumped out of his seat at an impressive speed, pen raised to meet his attacker while he spun around.

Three sets of the most beautiful eyes he's ever seen in his life stared back at him.

The Professor let out the breath he didn't know he'd been holding while he placed a hand over his heart. "Hey girls," he smiled at them while he placed the pen back in his pocket. Whatever danger he felt earlier disappeared. He trusted his daughters. "You certainly gave me a good scare."

Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup continued to float in the air, staring at him with unblinking eyes and straight faces. Smile fading, Professor Utonium grew uneasy. "Is something wrong?" He glanced at the wall clock again just to see if the time was nearly the same as it was a few minutes ago. It was. "It's pretty late. You three should be asleep by now." Chuckling he then said, "Heck,_ I_ should be asleep by now! Did the Mayor call you up?"

The girls didn't answer. Instead they looked at one another, Blossom nodding before they turned their attention back onto the Professor. As if Blossom's nodding was a que, they all smiled large, disturbing smiles. At that, the Powerpuff Girls started their slow advance on their father figure.

Panic filled the man at the unusual way his daughters acted at that moment, and reflex made him take a step back. "G-Girls? Are the three of you feeling well?"

They advanced a few more inches, and he took another step back. He let out a forced laugh. "Very funny you three. Now come on. We should all get some sleep."

Step. "Girls, I mean it. Tomorrow's a school day. We all need our rest."

Step. "Girls, stop this. It isn't funny anymore!"

Step. "Girls, please…!"

Step. "Girls…"

Step. _"What the heck is going on?!"_

Whack. The Professor's back hit a wall, signaling the end of his retreat. He had no time to properly react to the situation, not even to shout, for the Powerpuff Girls pounced into action.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O

The Powerpuff Girls reported Professor Utonium missing an hour after they got home from kindergarten.

When giving a statement to the police, the girls said they had breakfast with him before he saw them off to school. Bubbles then proceeded to go into a teary story about a picture she drew at school for the Professor and Buttercup talked about a kickball game she had played that afternoon. Blossom managed to keep on topic, telling the officers that the three of them had returned to find the house a mess and some furniture missing. She also included how she noted that the scientist had been nervous for about a month and that he had asked them if they'd been in the lab. Apparently tools and equipment had been disappearing.

Officers searched the grounds and the home for any clue as to what happened to the Professor, but they found nothing. The Powerpuff Girls immediately left the Utonium household to question every villain in Townsville if they held the Professor prisoner. Negotiations, pleading, and threats were made to all villains, but they still came up with nothing.

Bubbles made posters and hung the around town. That turned into a dead-end, too.

Days turned into weeks and the weeks became a month. Ms. Bellum commented on how the girls shouldn't keep their hopes up and how they should go into custody of someone they knew. Bubbles burst out crying and Buttercup scowled at her while Blossom stuttered out that moving out of the house would only put salt on the wound and couldn't they please just have a neighbor (excluding the Smiths) check up on them every once in a while?

Ms. Bellum was skeptic to just leave them on their own, but the Mayor agreed. He commented that too much change wasn't good for growing children before he ordered a schedule to be made for the citizens around the Utonium household.

No one minded the added responsibilities they'd been given. The Powerpuff Girls have been saving us for a long time now, they all thought. The least they could do was make the girls as comfortable as possible. They took pity on the trio of girls and wanted to help them out in whatever way they could.

In the safety of his realm, Him laughed at how the Powerpuff Girls had the whole town fooled. No one thought to dig deeper into Professor Utonium's case or how clean his disappearance seemed to be. They just chose to believe the Powerpuff Girls.

Even Him hadn't known what was happening until near the end. He had felt the levels of paranoia and fear rise up in the Utonium household, but Him had dismissed it as uninteresting. Only when deceit and lies had started to pop up from the same home did Him decide to see what, exactly, was going on.

What he saw had surprised him. All the girls had borderline possessive feelings for their father figure and they all handled "protecting" him in their own ways. Him had watched Bubbles as she followed Professor Utonium from the clothing store. He had witnessed Buttercup give a woman a cracked rib just because the woman had eyed the Professor from behind. He had followed Blossom as she carried the Professor's newly bought blowtorch to an undiscovered cave system and hid it with all the rest of the missing lab equipment.

He had to admit that he saw their unevitable meltdown coming. He simply chose to ignore doing anything about it. After all, this stalking the girls did interested him deeply. Then they surprised him even more by banning together and coming up with a plan to help keep the Professor "safe". He, again, had to admit that the way their plan came together and worked out in the end impressed him.

Hm…Him started to wonder how the Professor was at the moment. He had to have been cursing himself for soundproofing the training room so as not to disturb the neighbors with the sounds of explosions and his girls training. If the police had bothered to move the book shelves blocking the entrance then they'd have been able to enter the control room and look through the window and, oh, hey, there's the Professor right there.

But they didn't. And so the Professor was still locked up.

With a wave of a claw Him produced a magical window that allowed him to view any part of the earthly world without being seen. Instantly Him watched as the Professor banged on the door, begging his daughters to let him out.

Him rolled his eyes. Oh, please. If they didn't back down on that first day, then they wouldn't back down so far into their game.

Him continued to watch the Professor bang on the door as he called out his daughters' names. He released a string of wicked laughs as the Professor told the door that the girls might be under the control of Him and how the Professor would do everything he humanly could to help them break the villain's curse.

Oh no, dear Professor. Him had nothing to do with this little scheme. This was _all _the girls. Just goes to show that no one really knows anyone else. Are you finally understanding?

Him made himself more comfortable on his throne as the bangs grew weaker and weaker until they became nonexistent. The Professor hung his head, allowing his arm to fall back to his side. He turned and maneuvered his body around the "missing" furniture and sat down on the bed the girls had set up. A few moments later the (ex)scientist buried his face into his hands, body shaking with repressed sobs.

A cruel smile found a place on Him's face as the red demon watched the spectacle. A euphoria of hopelessness, despair, and emptiness founds its way to Him's tongue. Him laughed as the Professor cried, and Him gave silent congratulations to the girls for shattering their own father figure.

And the best part? They had no idea about the damage they were doing to the Professor. They truly thought they were doing good by locking the Professor in a mock up cage so as to keep him away from the outside world. It was for his protection that they keep the world from breaking him, after all.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O

_A/N: Congratulations. If you're reading this that means I (hopefully) didn't bore you to tears with the length of this story. I could've chopped it down into a few chapters, but I don't think that would've helped me any. Maybe I'll change a few things later on, maybe I won't. I've had most of this written down a few months ago, and I JUST WANTED IT TO END._

_Anyway I got this idea from watching a Vocaloid video. It was about these three sisters who had less-than-innocent feelings towards their brother. Each went through a different level of obsessiveness towards their brother before they all banded together in their love towards their brother. If you want to watch the video it's called Onii Yuukai. You should be fifteen, sixteen years old before you watch it, I must say._

_Again, thanks for your time for reading this story. :)_


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